The Porcelain Doll
by Conestoga Angel
Summary: When Hermione is eight years old she loses a precious doll given to her by her grandfather. What became of that doll? What is the significance? Who will she find along the journey to get back dolly and why did it happen? This is a HermioneDraco fic., but
1. Introduction

Author's Note: This is the introduction to the story. I know it seems as if i'm going to take it through her entire life, but this is the only time before the current almost 16 year old Hermione kicks in. I promise. Please enjoy, you don't have to review if you don't want to, but i'd love some feedback. If you have suggestions/constructive criticism I would love to hear it. Thanks & Enjoy!

"The Porcelain Doll"

A soft breeze ruffled the tree tops, as a young brunette girl swung on a dirty tire swing. The old tire was held in place by a thick piece of twined-rope, and it hung from a large branch on an old oak tree. The little girl looked about 8, as she swung in circles and held the arm of an old, stuffed, dolly she deeply cherished. The doll had a painted face, with a porcelain like head. Her body was made of soft fabric with a stuffing that made her huggable and lovable. But, what the small girl loved most about her doll was the matching features they shared. Dimpled smiles, small button noses, dark brown eyes lined with a coal black rim, and long, wavy, chocolate brown hair were their matching appearances. The swing slowed down and came to a halt, as the little girl in a pink summer dress fixed her darling doll's matching skirt. It had to be just right, for it was tea time.

Young Hermione Granger pulled herself off of the aged swing and brought her doll with her towards the picnic table. Her mother was placing small cups of lemonade and a large plate of cookies on the table for "tea time".

"Thanks mommy!" Hermione said enthusiastically, as she placed "dolly" on the other side of the table near the smaller glass of lemonade. She then took her own seat right in front of the big plate of cookies. Her mother laughed,

"Enjoy tea time 'Mione"

Hermione took a cookie and began to nibble at it as she looked around the yard. When she was done "tea-time", she stood up and stretched. Then, she ran across the yard to the tree-house her father had built her the summer before. She didn't even notice she left her precious dolly behind as she kicked off the pretty princess shoes and began to climb the steps built onto the tree. She colored in her little hide-away until it began to grow dark, and she heard her mother calling her. Stowing the crayons and books in the drawer by the window she climbed down and set off towards the house. Hermione was about to get into bed before she realized her dolly wasn't with her.

"Mommy I have to find dolly!" she cried in a frightened tone. The thought of sleeping one night without her precious doll that her grand-dad had given her when she was born was a terrible one. The little 8 year old ran around the house searching for her doll, until she realized that the Hermione-look a like doll was outside, at the old picnic table. Hermione pulled open the screen door frantically and ran across the soft, green, lawn to the table. Alas, the precious porcelain doll was gone. The tea tray filled with cookies still sat there, as did the semi full glasses of lemonade. (Hermione had drank some from both to make it seem as if Dolly was truly real.) The child and her mother and father searched for another hour, before Hermione grew too sleepy to continue.

"We'll find your doll in the morning, my 'Mione." Her father said softly, picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom at the end of the hallway. As he lay his daughter in her bed, he watched her with soft eyes. When finally she was asleep, he left the room.

"Do you think we'll find the doll?" Mrs. Granger asked her weary husband. He shook his head sadly,

"I'm afraid it's gone. Poor 'Mione's going to be heart broken."


	2. A Periwinkle Ribbon

1

"The Porcelain Doll"

"Hermione, pass the chicken." Ron Weasley demanded of his best friend, looking ravenously at the platter of steaming food. Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron was always hungry.

"You should use your manners more, Ron." She said, as she passed the hot chicken to the red head on her right. He just nodded his content as he grabbed four chicken legs at once and instantly began gnawing at them.

"It's as if they haven't eaten in years!" Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister exclaimed from across the table. She was talking about Ron and Hermione's other best friend, Harry Potter. The two boys were eating food furiously. Ron was on his third helping of chicken, and Harry was on his second. The girls looked each other and rolled their eyes.

Soon, every plate was cleared and the platters had disappeared. Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had said his opening remarks and dismissed them all to their dormitories. Hermione excused herself from her friends and ambled slowly through the castle, taking the long way to the Gryffindor Tower. She took time, reminiscing about when she was younger. The tall brunette was turning 16 years old in just a few weeks. She remembered back when she had been 4, and her grandfather had come over with a wrapped box with a big blue bow. Blue had always been her favorite color since then. A nice, warm, periwinkle blue. The box had been opened last of her presents, and it had been well worth the waiting for. Inside was a gorgeous porcelain doll with long, dark, eyelashes and soft, blushing, cheeks. Hermione still loved that doll.

Hermione sighed softly, remembering that she no longer had "dolly". The huggable doll had been lost the summer of her eighth year. It was a mystery as to where it had gone. She shook her head sadly and found herself at the portrait of the fat lady.

"Password?" The elegant woman inquired of her. Smiling smally, Hermione said the password and was let into the big common room of the Gryffindor Tower. The room was lit by fire and soft lanterns. The windows were wide open letting in small drafts of cool autumn air. The big, floppy, couches were filled with students talking and recollecting their summers. She noticed Harry and Ron over in the corner, brooding over a game of chess. She joined them and took a seat in a deep Garnet bean bag chair.

"Knight to E4." Ron said, a smile forming over his lips. "Checkmate." He smirked, sitting back and placing his arms behind his head in a boastful fashion. Harry looked confused. He couldn't figure out how Ron had beat him this time. He was still scratching his head when Hermione said,

"Boys, it's pretty late, I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Night Hermione." They said, as they set up for another game of chess. In the words of Harry,

"A Rematch." The female of the trio shook her head at their antics, and she climbed the winding stairs to the 6th year girls' dormitory.

She was the only one in the dorm at the time, so she changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. But not before brushing her teeth. Brushing her teeth had always been important. Her parents were dentists, of course. Hermione pulled out her diary, and a peacock feather quill with dark green ink. She saved her good quill and ink for her book. She entered the days happening's into her diary every evening. It was one of her favorite things to do. It always made her feel better.

Tonight 'Mione was writing about the train ride. It had been smooth, with no run ins with Malfoy or any other Slytherins. They had stayed in their part of the train, which was surprising. Hermione, Ron, and Harry had just talked about their summers, and they ate some candy. Ron had a bad lunch again, but they had split the pumpkin pasties and chocolate frogs with him. Harry had been especially nice, and he gave Ron a booger flavored Bertie Botts Bean. All in all it had been one of the better train ride years.

Hermione yawned sleepily as she placed the quill and ink in the bed side table and put the deep blue book under her pillow. But she didn't put it away before she retied the perfectly periwinkle blue ribbon around it. It had belonged to her doll.

"Hermione, are you awake?" A girls voice called softly into the room from the doorway. It was Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

"Hi girls, I was just about to go to sleep..." Hermione explained, trailing off.

"Oh! It's okay, we'll be quiet then." They said. Hermione smiled gratefully at them before turning over and turning out the lamp next to her four poster bed. She drew the curtains and snuggled down under the dark red covers. The bed was warm and perfect. The brunette fell asleep instantly, and dreams of sugarplum fairies filled her head.

The next morning came quickly, and Hermione was ready for it. She awoke early in the morning, to the chirping of the birds outside of the open window. The other girls of her year slept through them, but Hermione, the ever-light sleeper, could not. She had dressed in her Hogwarts Uniform and headed down to breakfast after brushing her teeth and grabbing her bag of books. When she reached the Great Hall she sat in her normal seat and found her schedule. It was filled to the brim with classes, as usual. The super-student nodded her approval of the schedule and placed it in her satchel. She piled some scrambled eggs and toast onto her plate and began to eat, taking a small swig of pumpkin juice ever few minutes.

Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall a few minutes later, looking very tired.

"How late did you boys stay up, anyway?" Hermione asked, without looking up. They rubbed their eyes and glared at her, before sitting down and grabbing some food for their rumbling stomachs. "Here are you schedules." She said, handing each of them crisp pieces of parchment. Ron glanced at his and threw it into his bag. Harry looked once and then twice.

"I can't believe I have to take Advanced Potions with the Slytherins!" He exclaimed angrily. "When will they quit putting us with them? How come the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are always together?" Harry had a knack for doing terribly in potions when he was in front of his worst enemy, Draco Malfoy. He finished his breakfast quickly, with a 'don't talk to me' face on. After he was done, he stormed off back to the dorm to grab his books. Hermione and Ron glanced at each other, trying not to laugh.

"Well I'm off, I've got Herbology with the Ravenclaws." Ron said, casting a small look at his schedule.

"I've got Advanced Potions with Harry and the Slytherins." Hermione said with a small frown.

"Good Luck!" The red-head said sympathetically, before walking away towards his first class.

Hermione made her way down to the potions classroom in the dungeons. She walked down the cold hallway and stopped before the big stone door. She took a deep breathe before entering the first class of the year, Advanced Potions for the mentally insane.

Authors Note: Not exactly the longest chapter, and kind of a cliff hanger and joke at the end. I hope you don't mind terribly. I'll update soon. Thanks for the reviews, I almost forgot I even wrote that story until I saw the review notifications in my email! I hope you liked it. As always, Constructive Criticism?


	3. Human Sweat : 1 droplet

"The Porcelain Doll"

Hermione entered the cold, dark, classroom. She could see Harry at the back of the room, slumped down in his chair. He was hidden behind a stack of books, and his almond shaped, bright, emerald, eyes seemed darker than usual as he had his bout of fun by glaring daggers at his arch-nemesis. Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, was calm and relaxed by his cauldron. His shiny, blond, hair was slicked back as usual, and his robes were casually flung open as he sat "ghetto style". His feet were nonchalantly placed one in the aisle and one under his desk. He was hunched over with his arms in a random spot in front of him. Hermione rolled her eyes as she breezed past the blond Slytherin and made her way back to the empty seat at Harry's desk. It was almost the moment that she had sat down that Professor Snape, their greasy haired professor, had entered the room.

"Welcome to Advanced Potions. I expect nothing but expertise in this area this year. You will focus on your potions like they were a little baby in distress. You will not be working in pairs this year, you will be working alone. This year I expect you to be a little better than you have in the past." The menacing professor said the last line, with a meaningful look at Harry. The Slytherins in the class noticed, and laughed openly. Every Gryffindor was silent. Not to say there were many Gryffindors to begin with. Only four in fact. "Today you students are making the antidote to a particularly nasty bug bite. I expect a flask full on my desk by the end of the period. The ingredients and directions are on my board. Begin."

The classroom instantly busied with people bustling back and forth between the ingredient cabinet and their work stations. Hermione scribbled down each ingredient on her pad of paper.

_1. Peppered Newts Tongue (2)_

_2. Beetle Eyes (10)_

_3. Human Sweat (1 droplet)_

_4.__Spider Legs (8)_

_5. Ginger Root (1 Root)_

Hermione nodded her head and stood to go over to the now empty of students closet of supplies. She walked across the room with her thick pad of yellowing paper in one hand and a blue, feathery, quill in the other. When she reached the oak doors of the closet she stepped in, breathing in the smell of an mini apothecary. One by one she found the ingredients: Two Peppered Newts Tongues from the basket on the second shelf, the ten, itty-bitty, black, beetle eyes from the drawer on the left, the droplet of Human Sweat from the bottle on the bottom shelf, The dead spider from the collection in the jar on the floor, and the single ginger root from the dark green basket on the middle shelf. When she was satisfied with what she had, she made her way back to the desk.

She took her seat and immediately looked at the directions on the board.

_1. Remove the legs from the spider. There should be 8. Mix them and the beetle eyes in boiling water, let sit for two minutes._

Hermione grimaced at the dead spider in front of her. She gently plucked the legs from the little circular body and then tossed them quickly into the boiling cauldron in front of her. She then took the handful of beetle eyes and let them fall into the water. She gently stirred the beginning of the potion and let it sit for the required two-ever so long- minutes.

_2. Chop the root into 10 even pieces. Add five now, let sit for two minutes. _

The brunette girl, hard at work, chopped the root quickly and expertly. She added the five and watch them sizzle immediately. Glancing at her book, she saw that this was a good sign. She sighed in relief and then read the next direction through the next two minutes.

_3. Add the Peppered Newts' Tongues and the remaining pieces of root. Stir evenly and let sit for 5 minutes._

Hermione added the ingredients and stirred it until it was smooth and even. It smelled awful, but looked the perfect color. It was a crimson red with bits of dark silver mixed in. Finally, after the even longer than usual 5 minutes was up, Hermione read the final instruction:

_4. Pour droplet of Human Sweat into potion. Stir counter clockwise 10 times. Bottle Potion._

Hermione picked up the eyedropper and let the bit of human sweat plop into the potion. It instantly turned a solid gray, and Hermione knew it was correct. She stirred it counter clockwise all ten times and was satisfied. She bottled the potion in a fashion of expertise and proudly walked it to the front of the room. As usual she was done first, with the great Draco Malfoy not far behind. She signed her name on the fiery-orange flask and handed it in. She made her way back to her seat, where Harry was vigorously stirring the potion.

'1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11...' Hermione counted in her head, shaking her head sadly when he finished after stirring it 15 times. She watched him frown at the green concoction as she poured out the rest of her potion (After bottling some for herself. You never know when it can come in handy!) And sponged up her desk area. The stone desk ate up the water as quickly as it was given it. She rinsed the sponge and put it in it's drawer and then packed up her books. There was two minutes left in the period and Hermione couldn't wait to get to her next class. Charms, her favorite subject, was taught by Professor Flitwick. A tiny old man who loved his work and his students.

Hermione stood from her seat and threw her sack of books and quills and things over her shoulder. She loved the feeling of carrying around something she could busy her time with all day. The carefree girl left the potions room, without saying much to Harry. He was too busy muttering to himself, trying to figure out what he had done to his potion this time.

She made her way up to the main floor and up another flight of stairs. She was on her way to the second corridor on the right. The flock of students in the hallway reminded her of sheep that needed to be herded. The already sweaty from their first period students bumped into her, making her grab her bulging bag of dictionary sized books to keep it from falling to the floor. She finally found herself shoved into the charms classroom by the herd of people rushing to get to their classes on time. She rolled her eyes and then found Harry sitting at a desk towards the front of the room. She joined him there and sat quietly, as the Hufflepuffs and rest of Gryffindors who were taking Charms this year could find their seats. Hermione and Harry were taking almost all of the same courses, with Hermione taking a few on the side. The two were studying to become Aurors when they graduated and they had to take two full years of extremely hard courses. So they had to really buckle down and work hard.

The charms class consisted of lots of wand waving. It became a little loud, too. In fact, Hermione could barely hear herself think as she read the book for the year. She, of course, had gotten the spell they were working on right the very first time she tried it. With a small jab of her wand at the doorknob in front of her and the word ,

"Essinay." The little golden doorknob floated into the air and began to sing a sweet melody. The only other song Hermione heard right now was the doorknob across the room. Except, it wasn't a sweet melody. It was painful to listen to, almost like nails on a chalkboard. The class groaned and covered their ears with their hands, while Professor Flitwick instantly shut the floating doorknob up. It sank to the table and then clattered onto it. As if one person, the class sighed in relief.

By the end of the Charms period, Hermione and Harry were starving and ready for lunch. The two made their way into the hallway, which was heavy with students. When they reached the Great Hall, they were finally able to breathe. The speed-walked over to the Gryffindor table where they found Ron already busy eating a Roast Beef sandwich.

"Lumfh ith goofd." Ron said, with his mouth full, as he waved them to the seats next to him.

"Care to re-phrase that in English?" Harry asked, grinning at Ron. The red-head swallowed and took a sip of pumpkin juice from the golden cup on his right.

"Lunch. Is. Good." He explained, and took another large bite out of his sandwich. Hermione and Harry laughed and sat, and they helped themselves to lunch. So far, the first day had been going swell.

"So, Ron, How was Herbology?" Hermione asked, glancing at the boy who was to become a Doctor.

Author's Note: Strange, huh, Malfoy didn't comment on harry or hermione..wonder what happened to him? I hope you like. Constructive Criticism as always. Thank goodness for spell check, my mind was elsewhere today and I spelled a lot of words wrong... "criticism" was "critisism". Well..I'll stop writing now and let you go, Enjoy.


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